Electric circuit controlling device



Oat. 8, 1940. G. E. Mac-MANNus 4 2,216,823

ELECTRIC CIRCUIT CONTROLLING DEVICE Filed Jan. 4, 193s 2 sheets-sheet 1 G. E. MacMANNUS ELEcTnIc CIRCUIT coNTRoLLING Amsvrcm v0a. s, 1940.

2 sheets-sheet 2 y Filed Jan. 4, 1938 Wc/annus INI/enf: or: @ear Patented oct. s, 1940 f 2,216,823

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTRIC CIRCUIT CONTROLLING DEVICE George E. MacMannus, West Hartford, Conn., assignor to Colts Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company, Hartford, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application January 4, 1938, Serial No. 183,389

3 Claims. (Cl. F75-307) The invention relates `to a circuit controlling In the illustrated embodiment of the invendevice, and more particularly to a device that tion a casing I is provided which comprises a is adaptable to various physical conditions which rear wall 2, side walls 3, and end Walls 4. At may be encountered in `different electrical inleast two of these walls are provided with knock- 5 stallations. Sometimes it is necessary to .bring outs. In the drawings the rear, side, and end the service wires into the bottom `of a circuit Walls are all provided with knockouts 5. controlling means and lead the load wires from The circuit controlling means Per Se may be the top, and then again it may be necessary to of ani7 desired type, but forth@ plllpOSeS 0f this just reverse this. Furthermore, circuit controlspecication I have illustrated a fuse block of 10 ling means are commonly mounted on insulating the type ShOWn in the Sachs Patent N0. 2,074,816. 10 blocks, `the blocks being in turn secured in sheet This construction comprises an insulating block metal casings, and considerable diiiculty is fre- 5 having edge surfaces 'I adjacent Which are quently encountered in leading the wires into mounted CilCllii/ ConrleC'GOIS 8, 9,'a1d |0 The and out of the casing with the block in place block is recessed to receive removable combined therein. switching and fuse carrying members II and I2. 15

In accordance With the invention, the casing The block also has other fuse receiving members and the block upon which a main circuit switch- I3 mounted thereon Which are adapted to receive ing member and circuit controlling means are additional circuit controlling fuses. In the parmounted are provided with Cooperating means 0f ticular block illustrated the electrical connecsuch a character that the block may be semitions are such (see Fig. 5) that the circuit con- 20 permanently mounted in the easing in more nectors 8, 9, and I0 constitute main, range, and than one position so as to be adapted to have bl'anh COImeCOlS, ieSDeCtiVely. The fuses service wires enter the casing at the top or botmounted ill the Carriers I5 and I2, and in the tom, and furthermore, the cooperating means on fuse receiving means I3 COIISiue main, range,

the casing and block are preferably such that and branch circuit fuses, respectively. The 25 the mock may be readily removed and replaced block preferably carries means such as electrical in the casing to facilitate wiring operations. in conductors for Connecting the ybranch fuses with accordance with ,a more specic aspect of the the main fuses, the conductors and connections invention, the construction provided is such that being Schematicttiiy indicated in Fg- 5- the .block may be adequately and'releasably se- Tile block arid Casing are provided With COOP 30 Cured in the `Casing by but a single manually Op era-ting mountmg means of the character above @fable means noted. I have shown the form of cooperating The objects and advantages of the invention means which i DOW 'deem preferable although will be apparent to those skilled in the art from it should be understood that other functionally this Speccaton equ1valent means may be used if desired. 35 In the accompanying .drawings I have shown In the now preferred construction two inemone embodiment of the invention, but it will be tiers I4 having chtttiiiei Shaped ends t5 'are rig understood that the drawings are intended for idly Secured' by rivets it; for example to 'the illustrative purposes only and are not to be com inner surface of the rear wall 2 of the casing.

strued as deiining or limiting the sco e of the The end portions. l5 are aperture@ at n. and 40 invention, the claims forming a part of this speceach member I4 1s preferably provlded Wlth a 40 iiicaton being relied upon for that purpose. Screw threadeti hole i8' In the drawings; A plate I9 1s secured to the rear surface of Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a device embodythe. blok 6 by Screws with a Construction ing the principles of the invention, the auxiliary which mcmdes two, pqsmomng members Such 45 Cover being shown in open position and a pop as I4, rearward proJecting hook members 2| on tion of the main cover being broken away. tite piatte t9 which are alternatively engagettbte Fig. 2 is a view simiiar to Fig. 1 with certain with the apeftufes 't in the Portions t5 may par-'Ds shown in another position' be provided, it being apparent that the hook Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the easing with members 2i when reeived in the apertures l1 5o the main @over and block omitted, hold the block against forward removal from the Fig. 4 is sectional view taken on the line 4 4 casing. The blOCk may be reIIlOVed after being of Fig. 3 but with the block in place. moved longitudinally of the casing sufciently Fig. 5 is a wiring diagram showing one possible to disengage the hook members from the pormanner of using the device of Fig. 1. tions I5. Preferably, although not necessarily, 55

a single manually operable means is provided for releasably securing the block in the casing in either of its two positions. As shown, a single screw 22 adapted to be threaded into either of the holes I8 may be provided for securing the block in place. While I have shown a construction providing for rotation of the block, it should be understood that other angularities may be provided for if desired.

A solid neutral 23 is preferably provided which includes the requisite number of circuit connectors. The neutral is preferably detachably secured in the casing by means such as screws 24. This permits the position of the neutral to be changed to conform to the position of the block 6.

Means is provided which, when in normal position, protectively covers at least that portion of the block 5 upon which the circuit connectors 8, 9, and l0 are mounted without covering the circuit controlling means. This covering means, the casing, and the block are preferably so related that the covering means functions as just described irrespective of which of its positions the block may occupy. While other means may be used for this purpose, I have illustrated a simple, yet effective, construction which I now prefer. A main cover 25 is openably associated With the casing by the hinges 26 and it has an aperture 2l therein of substantial size. As may be readily seen in Figs. 1 and 2, the block 6 is in alignment with the aperture 21 when the block is in either of its two positions, and the cover 25 when closed serves to protectively cover the circuit connectors without covering the circuit controlling means due to the fact that the members I4 are diametrically and symmetrically located relative to the aperture 2l'. A spring latch 28 may serve to hold the cover 25 closed and means, such as an auX- iliary hinged cover 29, may be provided for closing the aperture 21.

It will be readily understood that the block 6 may be removed from the casing by simply removing the single screw 22 and lifting the block so as to disengage the hooks 2l from the members i4. With the block removed the casing may be easily wired after which the block may be again semi-permanently mounted in the casing in either of its positions depending upon the wiring.

Other embodiments of the invention disclosed will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and I do not mean to limit myself to any particular embodiment except as dened in the claims.

What I claim is:

1. In combination, a casing having knockouts therein at opposite ends of the casing, an insulating block mounted in the casing, a switching member carried by the block, main circuit controlling means carried by the switching member, branch circuit controlling means mounted on the block, means carried by the block for electrically connecting the branch circuit controlling means to the main circuit controlling means, main and branch circuit connectors mounted on said block respectively adjacent opposite end surfaces thereof, cooperating means in the casing and on the block for positioning the block within the casing in either of two positions, releasable means for preventing removal of said block from the casing when positioned therein, and an openable cover on said casing which when closed protectively covers said circuit connectors and prevents access to said releasable means, said cover having an aperture therein exposing said branch circuit controlling means when the cover is closed.

2. In combination, a casing having knockouts therein at opposite ends of the casing, an insulating block mounted in the casing, main and branch circuit controlling means carried by the block, main and branch circuit connectors mounted on said blocks respectively adjacent opposite end surfaces thereof, two members xedly secured in said casing and having apertures therein, a hook member projecting rearward from said block and alternatively engageable in the apertures in said two members for positioning the block within the casing in either of two positions, releasable means for securing said block within the casing in either of said two positions, and an openable cover on said casing which when closed protectively covers said circuit connectors and prevents access to said releasable means, said cover having an aperture therein exposing said branch circuit controlling means when said cover is closed.

3. In combination, a casing including at least two walls having knoclrouts therein and an openable cover having an aperture of substantial size therein, an insulating block having circuit controlling means mounted thereon, and cooperatively engageable hook and hook receiving members in the casing and on the block for positioning the block within the casing in either of two positions in alignment with the aperture in said cover when closed so as to expose said circuit controlling means and for preventing forward and backward movement of the block relative to the casing when in either of the said two positions, and a single screw for securing the block in the casing in either of the said two positions, said block being free for removal from the casing upon removal of said single screw.

GEORGE E. MACMANNUS. 

